Caravan of nearly 10,000 migrants move towards US southern border; what we’ve learned

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer 

December 29, 2023 – About 7,500 people from 24 different countries are headed toward the US Southern Border according to reports, migrating for more than a day now, through Mexico, from Wednesday.

Majority of the migrants are said to be from Haiti, Cuba, Central America and Venezuela and some from Syria, Iran, Turkey and Cameroon.

They are said to be making their way north to the Mexican state of Chiapas on the border of Guatemala, according to Luis Garcia Villagran, an organizer of the migrant caravan and activist, speaking to NBC.

He also informed that a group of women, children and sick people were farther ahead and had already reached Mapastepec, a town in Chiapas.

Jonás Sosa, a Venezuelan migrant with the Caravan expressed, reports that the migrants are in need of help.  He said they are “looking for a new dream, those of us that want to work, those of us who want to move forward in life.”

Sosa’s story is quite touching as he lost his leg in a car accident and carried himself along the journey on crutches and a prosthetic leg.

Apparently not all the migrants are looking for the so-called American dream, highlighted Villagrán.  He informed that some are hoping for documents to settle in Mexico and find work and humanitarian relief.

Additionally, Villagrán points out that the journey is difficult, especially for women and children.

“The conditions in which the companions, the migrant women and children, are walking is truly deplorable,” he said, as reported by NBC News.

The caravan’s migration comes as US officials, including Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State and Liz Sherwood-Randall, White House homeland security advisor,  met in Mexico City to discuss what the State Department says is “unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere and ways Mexico and the United States will address border security challenges.”

This also comes a week after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection saw a record number of undocumented migrants crossing the border. Reports say the border patrol has processed more illegal migrants entering the U.S. in December than in any other month in the agency’s history.

Also, three Homeland Security officials say U.S. border facilities had a record number of migrants in custody.